THE VOLGA GERMANS IN PORTLAND
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Community > Education > ​Eliot School

Eliot School

The Eliot School was opened in 1909 on property located at Rodney and Knott that was originally planned for a new high school. The school was named after Thomas Lamb Eliot, an influential clergymen in Oregon.

In the late 1940's or early 1950's the students and teachers from the Eliot School were transferred to the Reuben P. Boise School on Fremont and it was renamed the Boise-Eliot School. The Eliot School property was transferred to the Portland Parks Bureau and became the Knott Street Community Center. The facility was later renamed as the Matt Dishman Community Center.

The soil used to fill the Boise School site was excavated when the basement for the German Evangelical Congregational Brethren Church was dug. The digging was all done by hand and the garbage haulers in the congregation used their trucks to haul the dirt to the school site.
Eliot School built in 1909
Eliot School, circa 1951. The school was built in 1909. Source: City of Portland Archives, image A2001-045.1185.
The bearded adult male in the photographs below is principal Samuel Usmar Downs (1856-1936). He served as principal in several of Portland's Eastside schools and retired in 1931 as the long-time principal at the Eliot School.
Eliot School graduating class of 1915.
Eliot School graduating class of 1915. Source: Steven Schreiber.
Eliot School Class of 1929
Eliot School graduating class of 1929. Courtesy of Julie Cohan, whose father is seated in the front row, second from the right.

Sources

Portland City Directories. 

City of Portland Archives and Records Management - accessed January 9, 2019.

Schwabauer, Wanda J. "The Portland Community of Germans from Russia." Diss. Portland State U, 1974. Print.
Last updated January 15, 2019.
Copyright © 1998-2023 Steven H. Schreiber
  • Home
    • About This Website
    • Reviews
  • History
    • Historical Timeline
    • Migration to Russia
    • Emigration from Russia
    • Settlement in America
    • Migration to Portland
    • Little Russia
    • A Short History of Albina
    • World War I
    • The Volga Relief Society >
      • Portland Volga Relief Society Subscribers 1921
    • World War II
    • Assimilation and Dispersion
  • Beliefs
    • Churches >
      • Albina Seventh-day Adventist Church
      • First United Mennonite Baptist Church
      • Ebenezer German Congregational Church
      • Free Evangelical Brethren Church >
        • German Evangelical Congregational Brethren Church
      • Second German Baptist Church
      • St. Pauls Evangelical and Reformed Church
      • Second German Congregational Church >
        • Evangelical Congregational Church
      • Zion German Congregational Church >
        • Rivercrest Community Church
    • Pastors
    • The Brethren
    • Denominations >
      • German Reformed Church
      • German Evangelical Synod of North America
      • Evangelical and Reformed Church
      • German Congregational Church
      • Seventh-day Adventists
      • United Church of Christ
  • People
    • Our People
    • Notables
    • Pioneers 1881-1892
    • Stories
    • Photographs
    • Help Identify These People
  • Community
    • Characteristics
    • Businesses >
      • Bakeries Retailers and Services
      • Garbage Haulers
      • Grocery and Meat Markets
      • Restaurants >
        • Helsers on Alberta
        • McCormick & Schmicks
        • Wildwood
      • Saloons and Taverns
      • Suppliers and Manufacturers
    • Employers
    • Education
    • Sports
    • Maps
    • Documentary
  • Traditions
    • Foods
    • Folk Medicine
    • Expressions
    • Weddings
    • Holidays
    • Folk Music
    • Funerals and Burial Sites
  • Resources
    • Family Research
    • Books and Video
    • Works Cited